The Sweet and Sour of Competition

Canadiens coach Michel Therien takes issue with the comments made by Senators coach Paul MacLean regarding the fallen Lars Eller and the blood-spattered ice in the wake of Eric Gryba's body check on Thursday night in Game 1 of the Ottawa-Montreal playoff series.

Adam Gretz of CBSSorts.com took down the comments of MacLean, who was frank in his assessment of the play, the pass by the Canadiens' Raphael Diaz and the dangers of playing hockey.

"I thought player 61, if I'm ... was it Eller that got hit? I'm really mad at player 61, whoever he is," MacLean said during his postgame press conference. "Because he passed me the puck in the middle of the rink when I wasn't looking, and that's always been a dangerous place. As far as I know, ever since I've been playing this game, that's a dangerous place to be. Bad things happen." MacLean continued: "I think it's a hockey play that ended up going bad for Lars Eller. Scott Stevens. Doug Harvey. That play has been there since this game has been around. I remember guys telling me don't go through there if you're not looking."

The Ottawa Sun's front page (PDF format) doesn't exactly take a diplomatic tone when coming up with the right wordplay for the tabloid.

So there you go, but in the whipsaw effect of this play and the reflex action of everyone involved, on the ice and off, is the belief that everyone is offering a portion of the truth here. Therien talks about the rules, but nothing in the rules directly -- not partially or close, but directly -- call the hit an illegal one. MacLean talks about hockey through the ages, as though what happened in prior decades is license to condone all actions in the context of the game amid the current climate of eliminating head injuries in athletics.

Keeping your head up is Rule 1, agreed. But from there, the rest of the rules must come from a collective concern about all players, not just the ones wearing your particular team's sweater. Updated information on Friday afternoon: Eric Gryba was suspended for two games by the NHL.



While listening to the Hockey Night in Canada Online recap podcast this morning, I could hear the panel try to cover all the angles, with each saying it was a hockey play gone bad. And while they took several strides to avoid putting Diaz on the spot for putting Eller in the danger zone, they could not help but describe his effort as a suicide pass or a tough pass to make.

You can do the calculations of what they were adding up to say.

It's a fast game and there are risks being assumed on every shift. The best that can be done now is to avoid reflexive comments while and being more reflective in tone after any incident.

You don't feel sorry for someone if you begin your sentence: "I feel sorry for Player X, but ... ."